Uneven Packet Segmentation for Lower-Latency Intermediate Links
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data packet transmission methods, such as cut-through switching, face challenges with increased transmission overhead and latency due to segmentation into too many segments, particularly when the last segments are not prioritized for higher reliability and shorter length.
Innovation Solution
Implementing uneven segmentation and encoding where the last few segments are shorter and more reliable than the average, ensuring timely delivery and reduced overhead by prioritizing the latency-sensitive segments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If data packets are segmented into many small segments for transmission over intermediate links, then network efficiency and throughput are improved, but transmission overhead increases and latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing data packets into multiple segments for transmission over intermediate links. However, it improves upon conventional segmentation by making the segmentation uneven - specifically, the last segment is made shorter than other segments to reduce retransmission penalty and overall latency while maintaining acceptable throughput.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by treating different segments differently based on their position and importance. The last segment is given special treatment with reduced length and potentially different encoding to improve reliability and reduce retransmission overhead, while other segments maintain standard lengths for efficiency.
2Loss of time
If the last segments are made shorter and more reliable through uneven segmentation and encoding, then retransmission penalty is reduced and latency is decreased, but transmission overhead for encoding increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by applying enhanced encoding and shortened length only to the last segment rather than all segments. This partial treatment reduces the overall encoding overhead while still achieving the goal of reducing retransmission penalty and improving latency for the most critical segment.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments for transmitting uneven segments of a data packet over an intermediate communication link are disclosed. One embodiment includes receiving a data packet by a first node, segmenting the data packet into N segments, such that the size of each of the last two segments is shorter than the average size of the previous (N−2) segments, encoding the segments such that the reliability of each of the last two segments is better than the average reliability of the previous (N−2) segments, and transmitting the segments to a second node over the intermediate communication link. In this way, the most latency-sensitive segments are shortened and encoded with better reliability than the average segment, thereby improving network performance and efficiency.